


Friends, Exes, Weddings, and Other Things

by 27summer



Category: Glee
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2015-03-03
Packaged: 2018-03-16 04:36:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3474653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/27summer/pseuds/27summer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Quinn and Rachel wanted to do was catch up with friends and avoid their exes. Somehow, they get caught up with each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Friends, Exes, Weddings, and Other Things

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: Through 4x14 I do.

Searching through the crowd, Rachel frowned when she couldn’t find Kurt anywhere. They’d agreed to stick together in hopes of avoiding their exes but Kurt had disappeared almost as soon as they arrived at the church. And Blaine was also nowhere to be found. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they were together and Rachel was on her own. That was fine. She didn’t need a buffer between her and Finn. She could handle it. She’d just tell him that she just wanted to be friends with him and that’s all.

Rachel scoffed at herself. That wouldn’t work. She meant it when she said she didn’t want to be with Finn but she knew he wouldn’t believe her. Whenever they were apart, that was when he decided he wanted her back. Whenever she had another guy paying the slightest bit of attention to her, that was when Finn knew they were meant to be. And yes, she and Brody weren’t that serious. She liked him, he was sweet and they definitely had chemistry. But she wasn’t in love with him. It was just fun. Even if she wasn’t sure she was made for a casual relationship. But that didn’t mean she wanted Finn again.

Shaking her head, Rachel resolved to stop thinking about her love life. She was here for Mr. Schuester’s wedding. She wasn’t going to let her love life ruin what was supposed to be a good time. She hadn’t seen most of her friends since she’d left for New York. It would be good to catch up. As she had the thought, Rachel spotted Quinn at the entrance of the church. She was about to call out to her when Santana ran over to her. Quinn bent her head, allowing Santana to whisper into her ear. They looked awfully intimate. Rachel wondered why they looked so close. She bit her lip, confused about why it bothered her so much. Quinn was allowed to have friends. In fact, Quinn and Santana had known each other longer than she had known either of them. Some Metro North tickets didn’t mean that she and Quinn were best buddies.

Rachel forced those judgments from her mind. She didn’t want to be bitter and jealous. She wanted to be happy for Mr. Schuester. Everything else could wait for a while. She wouldn’t ruin this day.

\-----------------------

Quinn followed Santana into the church, sliding into a pew next to her. “Why are we even here? Mr. Schuester barely liked either of us. I doubt he’d miss us if we hadn’t come.”

“I don’t know about you but you know exactly why I’m here.” Santana’s eyes locked on Sam and Brittany sitting a few pews ahead of them.

“I know all about your plans.” Quinn rolled her eyes at the predatory look on Santana’s face. “But do you really want to interfere in their relationship? I thought you wanted Brittany to be happy.”

“I do but she wasn’t supposed to be serious with someone else so soon,” Santana said sullenly.

“Shouldn’t you have thought of that before you broke up with her?”

“Shut up!” Santana snapped.

“Sorry. That was unnecessary,” Quinn said, hoping to pacify Santana. The last thing she needed was for her to go all Lima Heights on her.

“Whatever. Your job is to distract Trouty Mouth when I get Brittany alone.”

“I never agreed to that,” Quinn protested. She definitely didn’t need any more drama in her life.

“Hey, maybe you’ll get lucky and he’ll drown his sorrows in you. Those enormous lips of his ought to be good for something.” Santana laughed.

“Uh, no. I’m not interested in Sam.”

“Fine. Help me out and then go back to Yale. What’s your problem anyway? Did you and your professor break up? Did he go back to his wife?”

“Yeah, we broke up,” Quinn admitted, hating the superior look on Santana’s face. “And I’m over it but I’m not going to hook up mindlessly.”

“Why not? Maybe you’ll dislodge the stick from your ass.” Santana cackled.

“You’re asking me for a favor and insulting me at the same time. Maybe that’s not the smartest idea in the world,” Quinn said. She glanced around, her words dying in her throat when she spotted Rachel sitting down at the front of the church. God, she was so beautiful.

“Hmm. Maybe you’re searching for love in the wrong place.” Santana smirked.

“What?” Quinn tore her gaze away from Rachel, frowning at the look on Santana’s face.

“You’ve always been obsessed with Berry. I assumed it was jealously but you want her.”

“No,” Quinn said quickly.

“You do.” Santana shook her head in amusement. “I always knew you were into that but I figured you’d repress your desire for sweet lady kisses until after you were married and had popped out a few kids.”

“Drop it, Santana.” Quinn looked down at her hands.

“It’s okay, Quinn. The hobbit’s gotten hotter since graduation.”

“It hardly matters. She doesn’t see me like that.” Quinn closed her eyes. Why did she just say that? Santana would never let it go.

“So you do want to get you’re your sweet lady kisses on?” Santana asked.

“Fine, yes. But like I said, she doesn’t want me like that.” Quinn looked at Santana awkwardly. “Happy now?”

“Look, she always was a little fixated on you,” Santana said softly. “Maybe-”

“No.” Quinn shook her head, unwilling to let her hopes rise. She’d already been let down when Rachel never came to see her at Yale.

“But-”

“Drop it, Santana, or I’ll tell Sam your plans for his girlfriend.” Quinn took one last look at Rachel before turning to glare at Santana.

“Okay, okay,” Santana muttered. “It was stupid to think about anyway. Your combined crazy would probably cause the apocalypse.”

“Funny.” Quinn sighed.

“You know, I’m kind of an expert on lesbian drama. If you ever want to talk.”

“You’re trying to be nice, aren’t you?” Quinn asked, looking at her friend. “How sweet.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get used to it.” Santana rolled her eyes.

“I won’t. But thank you. Maybe when we’re not surrounded by people, I might take you up on your offer.”

“That’s cool. Hey, you know, I’ve got a list of websites you might enjoy,” Santana said with a wide grin on her face.

“No, no. I think I can live without seeing your porn sites.” Quinn shook her head. Santana knowing about her feelings for Rachel probably wouldn’t turn out too well but at least she had someone to talk to.

\-----------------------

Rachel searched the wedding reception for one of her friends. She’d managed to keep her conversation with Finn short but she knew he was going to come back and try to convince her that they were meant to be. And she just didn’t want to deal with him. But of course, it was impossible to find any of her friends in this mess of people. Who would have guessed Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury had so many friend and family? She didn’t even care who she talked to, she just wanted to hide from Finn before she gave into him and had sex just to make him happy. She’d truly meant it when she said she didn’t want to be with him but Finn had this way of leading her into going back to him. Even when she knew better. So she just wanted to avoid it all.

Spotting Quinn and Sam across the room, Rachel headed over to them. She hadn’t talked to either of them in a long time. Their company would be a good distraction from Finn. Before she reached them, Sam stalked away. “Whoa. What’s wrong?”

Quinn rolled her eyes as Rachel sat down next to her. “Santana’s big plan to seduce Brittany seems to be working. Sam’s in a snit about it.’

“Oh.” Rachel looked around and saw Brittany and Santana dancing while Sam glared at them. “I knew Santana was up to something but I didn’t think she’d try to break them up.”

“Santana’s had her heart set on Brittany for years. Of course she wouldn’t give up so easily.”

“It doesn’t seem right, though. Brittany and Sam seemed happy together,” Rachel said, frowning slightly.

“Please. This time last year he was head over heels from Mercedes. Before that, he was crazy for me. He’ll get over it fast enough.” Quinn scoffed. “Besides, I’d want Santana to be happy if I were you. I can’t imagine living with her if this plan doesn’t work.”

“Good point.” Rachel laughed, reaching out to pat Quinn’s hand. “Anyway, I want to hear about you. We’ve hardly talked since graduation.”

“Yeah, I guess we’ve both been busy.” Quinn cleared her throat, glancing down at Rachel’s hand still on top of her own. “How’s it going with school and that guy? Brody?”

“Oh, school’s going well. And Brody’s fine.” Rachel blushed, feeling embarrassed. She didn’t really want to discuss Brody with Quinn. “It’s not really serious.”

“But you’re living with him, right?” Quinn asked, a confused frown on her face.

“It’s- it’s- he needed a place to live and I wanted to help him but that’s all. It’s casual.”

“Oh.” Quinn raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Rachel asked as she pulled her hand away from Quinn’s.

“I’ve never known you to be casual with anyone,” Quinn pointed out. “That doesn’t really seem like you.”

“I’m growing up, trying new things. Is that so bad?” Rachel looked at Quinn, feeling defensive.

“No, hey. You can do what you want.” Quinn snorted. “It’s not like I have any room to talk.”

“What do you mean?”

“You mean Santana didn’t tell you. I’d have thought she’d tell everyone.” Quinn rolled her eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about but Santana hasn’t told me anything about you,” Rachel said.

“I kind of went crazy last semester.” Quinn sighed, ducking her head bashfully. “I slept with one of my professors.”

“What?!” Rachel glanced around at all their friends and lowered her voice. “Why in the world would you do that?”

“It’s stupid,” Quinn muttered. “He made me feel special. And he helped me to forget other things, too.”

“What other things?” Rachel asked, curious about where Quinn’s head was at. She couldn’t imagine Quinn letting herself be used by an older man. She was much too special for that.

“Things didn’t go how I thought they would at Yale. I thought that I’d be able to put it behind me, but I couldn’t stop thinking about these feelings. They just won’t go away.”

“Feelings? You mean you’re not over Noah,” Rachel said uncertainly. There was a ball of unease right in the middle of her stomach.

“Puck? No, that’s not-”

“Quinn, it’s okay.” Rachel rushed to interrupt her, even thought the idea of Quinn and Noah together made her uncomfortable. “Kurt said Noah’s dating some blond cheerleader but if he knew you wanted him, I’m sure he’d break up with her.”

“I don’t want Puck, Rachel!” Quinn rubbed her hands over her face in frustration.

“I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t want to.” Rachel reached out to take Quinn’s hand but she jumped up. “Quinn, wait.”

“No, I’ve got to get out of here. I shouldn’t have even started this.” Quinn rushed away before Rachel had a chance to stop her.

“Quinn, wait!” Rachel stood up to chase after her. What had just happened? How did this spin out of control so quickly?

\----------------

After getting out of the room, Quinn made her way to an empty hallway and leaned against the wall. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to collect herself. What was she thinking? Why in the world did she let her guard down around Rachel? It would only bring trouble, it’s not like Rachel felt the same way as she did. She should have just kept things superficial and gone back to Yale and tried to forget about Rachel. Besides, she only accepted her feelings and what they meant recently. Was she really ready for all of that to be out in the open?

Wiping her eyes, Quinn put on her stone face and headed back to the reception. She couldn’t go home until she was sure Santana had a ride home. For all the bickering they did, Santana was the one person in Quinn’s life that she could trust to be there for her no matter what. She couldn’t ditch her. That meant going back inside and avoiding Rachel and waiting until she got home to fall apart.

Her heart stopped as soon as she entered the room. Rachel was with Finn, his hand on her arm. That’s how it always was, Rachel and Finn. At least she hadn’t splayed her heart open for Rachel to stomp all over. She tried to make herself move but all she could do was stare. Every time she thought she was prepared to deal with Rachel not caring about her, she ended up completely heartbroken.

“Quinn! Quinn, I- let me talk to you.” Rachel yanked her arm from Finn and headed over to her.

“Later.” Quinn spun around, anxious to get away. She wasn’t doing this here. Rachel could go for round 157 with Finn but Quinn didn’t have to watch it.

“Where are you going?” Rachel caught up to her, grabbing Quinn’s wrist and turning her around. “We were talking and you just took off.”

“It doesn’t matter. You should go back to Finn.” Quinn was careful to avoid making eye contact with Rachel.

“Finn? I don’t want to talk to him I’ve been trying to avoid him all night.” Rachel looked at Quinn in confusion.

“Oh, that’s why you’re talking to me. So that you don’t have to talk to Finn.” Quinn shook her head. Why did she always get her hopes up?

“No. I- What’s wrong, Quinn?” Rachel asked, looking up at Quinn with wide eyes.

“I can’t do this. Not here.” Quinn glanced up at the ceiling, trying desperately to keep it together.

“I don’t understand.” Rachel reached up, trying to get Quinn to look at her. “What did I do to upset you so much?”

“Nothing. It’s not- it’s not you.”

“It obviously is. You can’t even look at me.” Rachel waited until Quinn met her eyes. “Talk to me. Please.”

“I don’t know how.” Quinn cursed inwardly at her inability to contain herself around Rachel. “I- I have all of these feelings and they’re not going away.”

“What- what feelings?” Rachel asked, using her hands to brush away the tears falling on Quinn’s cheeks.

“I keep throwing myself into these inappropriate relationships, trying to make them go away, but they won’t.” Quinn took a breath, feeling completely out of sorts. She couldn’t believe that she was actually going to tell Rachel. She didn’t want to but Rachel wasn’t going to let it go. She would push until Quinn either told her the truth or snapped and hurt her feelings. Quinn didn’t want that to happen.

“What feelings?” Rachel repeated.

“I- I-” Quinn couldn’t force the words from her mouth. She didn’t know how.

“Quinn?” Rachel gazed at her with so much concern in her eyes that Quinn fell even harder for her.

“God, I’m sorry, Rachel,” Quinn murmured before covering Rachel’s lips with her own. It was a brief kiss but it lit a fire inside her. She had expected Rachel to pull away but she didn’t so Quinn took the opportunity to lick at Rachel’s lips before making herself stop. It took every bit of strength she had to pull back. “Do you get it? Do you see why it’s hard for me to be around you?”

“Oh. Quinn, I-” Rachel stared at Quinn in a daze, her fingers on her lips.

“I’m sorry for forcing this on you. I just didn’t know how to say it.” Quinn’s adrenaline faded and she was left feeling silly. Rachel looked stunned. Quinn couldn’t believe she’d wrecked their friendship like this.

“No, I asked. I just didn’t expect it.”

“Well, of course you didn’t. I sprang this on you. I treated you like crap for so long. How could you ever think that I’d have feelings for you?” Quinn shook her head in disbelief at herself. She really was insane.

“Quit beating yourself up. I’m not angry, I’m just surprised.” Rachel tried to take Quinn’s hands but she pulled away. “I’ve got a room upstairs. Come with me.”

“You want me to go up to a room you got to be with Finn in?” Quinn demanded. She knew Rachel could be a little thoughtless but that seemed unnecessary.

“No! No. My dads are renovating the house so I didn’t want to stay there. I- Finn hasn’t been up there. I don’t want him to be,” Rachel said earnestly. “I want to talk this out, Quinn. Alone, without interruptions.”

Um.” Quinn had butterflies in her stomach. This didn’t seem like the best way to protect her heart but the butterflies wanted her to go with Rachel. Now that she had the chance, she had to see where it would lead. Rachel didn’t seem disgusted by her so that was something. “Okay.”

“Really?” Rachel smiled.

“Yeah.” Quinn smiled back.

“Let’s go.” Rachel took her hand and led her away. Quinn knew that she would follow her anywhere.

\---------------

Flipping on the light switch, Rachel led Quinn inside her room. She turned to look at Quinn who was obviously flustered. Rachel was equally nervous but that kiss- She couldn’t stop replaying it in her mind. She’d never thought of Quinn in a romantic sense but the moment their lips met, it was like she was in a tailspin. She’d never felt so on fire after a kiss before. She didn’t know exactly what it meant but she wanted more. She wanted Quinn.

“Rachel?” Quinn interrupted her musings, looking charmingly anxious. “Are you sure about all of this?”

“I am.” Rachel placed a finger on Quinn’s lips. “I don’t know exactly what this means. I’ve never thought about you like this before.”

“Oh. I get it.” Quinn’s shoulders slumped and she backed up.

“Get what?” Rachel watched as Quinn’s walls went up. How did the mood change so quickly?

“You brought me up her to reject me in private. And I appreciate that. You don’t have to say anything more.” Quinn grabbed her purse and headed to the door. “I’m going to go.”

“No.” Rachel grabbed Quinn’s wrist and tugged her close. “That’s not what I meant. Not even a little bit.”

“You don’t have to spare my feelings. I can take it,” Quinn said stubbornly.

“I’m not sparing your feelings.”

“Rachel, please just let this go. For once, don’t push this.”

“I have to. Because you’re not listening,” Rachel said, trying to catch Quinn’s eyes.

“I don’t need you to explain in detail exactly why you don’t want me. I’m going to go and we’ll talk in a few weeks when I don’t feel so embarrassed,” Quinn stated with a clenched jaw and tears in her eyes.

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You’re-”

“Rachel, don’t-”

Rachel pulled until Quinn’s body was flush against her own. She slid her hands onto Quinn’s waist and kissed her firmly. It wasn’t the tentative kiss that they had shared earlier, this one was born of years of pent up desire that was finally released. “You talk too much, Quinn.”

“I think that’s supposed to be my line,” Quinn murmured against Rachel’s lips, as a small smile spread across her face.

“Well, I guess I’ve rubbed off on you.” Rachel pressed her lips gently against Quinn’s. “I brought you up here to talk but I can’t let you out of my arms.”

“That sounds pretty good to me.” Quinn tangled her hand into Rachel’s hair and kissed her back. “We’ll talk later.”

“Mmm. Okay.” Rachel pushed Quinn onto the bed, falling on top of her. She kissed her hard, unable to get enough. Quinn’s lips were so addictive. This was crazy and way too fast but Rachel couldn’t help herself. They would sort things out later on.

\----------------

Her shoulder ached but Quinn couldn’t bring herself to move. She had Rachel draped over the left side of her body and it felt better than anything she’d ever known before. She was afraid that any sort of movement would break the spell and she wanted to enjoy the moment for as long as she could.

Finally, Rachel lifted her head to look at Quinn. “Hi.”

“Hi.” Quinn bit her lip, trying to contain her emotions. “Any regrets?”

“No. None,” Rachel assured her. “It was wonderful.”

“For me, too.” Quinn asked shyly.

“You’re so beautiful, Quinn. I kind of can’t believe you want me like that.”

“Me? I’ve wanted you for so long, Rachel. For longer than I’ve even really acknowledged to myself,” Quinn admitted. “I really adore you, Rachel.”

“Oh, Quinn.” Rachel blew out a breath. “I don’t-”

“You don’t have to say anything. I-”

“Shh.” Rachel smoothed the frown lines on Quinn’s face. “I can’t say that I’ve had feelings for you for years. But what I can say is that I care about you very much.”

“Right.” Quinn scoffed and tried to get up but Rachel held her down. “Rachel, please.”

“No, Quinn. Let me finish,” Rachel said firmly.

“Fine, whatever.” Quinn forced her eyes up to stare at the ceiling. This always happened. She allowed her feelings to guide her actions and she ended up in situations that were completely screwed up. And this might be the worst. She was crazy about Rachel and Rachel “cared about her.” She would be left behind once again.

“As I was saying,” Rachel began, forcing Quinn to meet her eyes. “This- this attraction is new. At least my being aware of it is. But I’ve always been fascinated by you, I’ve always wanted to be close to you. I think we should give this a try.”

‘Really?” Quinn blinked, trying to control the tears that wanted to fall.

“Really,” Rachel said certainly, reaching out to cup Quinn’s face. “I can’t promise you anything. But maybe…”

“Maybe what?” Quinn asked, the butterflies in her stomach growing even worse.

“Maybe we could make this more than a hook up,” Rachel said, a small smile on her face.

“I would like that.” Quinn slid her hand up to Rachel’s neck, pulling her down for a kiss.

“Me, too.” Rachel looked down at Quinn with shining eyes. “We can figure this out.”

“Yeah, we will.” Quinn’s smile felt as big as it had ever been. It felt almost like a dream. “We’ve still got those Metro North passes. We can finally use them.”

“How come it took Kurt asking for you to get to New York?” Rachel asked.

“Well, you never asked and I was afraid that you’d reject me if I asked you to come see me at Yale.” Quinn blushed, once again feeling pathetic at how crazy for Rachel she was.

“Oh. I- God, we really drifted apart, didn’t we?” Rachel shook her head. “I really wanted to be close to you. I was so lost went I first got to New York. I didn’t really want anyone else to know how I felt.”

Quinn laughed. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Yale was supposed to be a new start but I still hooked up with a guy, using him to get rid of my feelings.”

“For me, right?” Rachel brushed the hair away from Quinn’s face.

“For you,” Quinn confirmed. She rolled her eyes sheepishly. “I know you haven’t had these feelings as long as I have. I don’t want you to feel any pressure.”

“I don’t feel pressure. I- This was totally unexpected but I’m in. I’m not in love with you but I think I could be one day.” Rachel leaned down, burying her face in the crook of Quinn’s neck.

“That sounds wonderful.” Quinn rubbed Rachel’s back lazily. “I can’t wait for you to come to my dorm and meet my roommate and see the campus.”

“Me, too. And I can show you New York and everything I love.”

“So you’re finally settling in?” Quinn asked as a feeling of contentment came over her. It felt like her life was just beginning.

“I am. Once Kurt came and I got used to my classes and grew closer to Brody…” Rachel trailed off, her eyes growing wide.

“Oh, God. You have a boyfriend. I’m an evil cheating whore once again.” Quinn groaned, every bit of happiness fleeing her body. This was all too simple so naturally something would come up to wreck everything.

“No.” Rachel kept her body on top of Quinn’s preventing her from running away. “First of all, I’m the cheating whore in this situation.”

“Not funny,” Quinn growled, unnerved by Rachel’s flippancy.

“Sorry. That was a dumb joke.” Rachel sighed. “It’s not serious with Brody.”

Quinn rolled her eyes. “You said that before but come on. Give me a break, Rachel. You’re living with the guy.”

“I- That’s not-” Rachel blew out a breath. “He needed a place to stay. But I don’t love him. Honestly.”

“I don’t understand how you can be living and sleeping with a guy but not love him.” Quinn worked to keep her voice even. She didn’t have the right to feel hurt by this. Rachel had never promised her anything. She should probably just be happy that she got to have one night with Rachel.

“It doesn’t make sense, I know. I guess I kind of like the idea of being an adult and living with someone.” Rachel shook her head.

“Where does that leave us?” Quinn asked. “I don’t expect us to be serious right away but I know that I couldn’t stand it if you were sleeping with someone else, too.”

“I’ll break up with Brody. I’ll tell him he needs to leave.”

“You don’t have to. I wasn’t trying to force you into anything. I just need you to know what I’m feeling.”

“And I’m glad you told me. This isn’t going to work if we hide from each other.” Rachel stroked Quinn’s face. “You’ve been hiding for a long time, haven’t you?”

Quinn nodded. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean you have to change your life around for me. I mean, you were perfectly happy with Brody before this happened.”

“If things were right with Brody, I wouldn’t be in bed with you,” Rachel said. “I’ll admit that it’s nice to have a hot, older guy interested in me. But I’ve never had these intense feelings for Brody like I have for you. A kiss has never made me unravel like your kisses do.”

“Really?” Quinn asked, with tears in her eyes. She really couldn’t believe that this was happening, that Rachel was saying everything she’d always wanted her to say. She’d dreamed of this, but didn’t ever think it would actually happen.

“Really.” Rachel hugged Quinn tightly. “I’ll tell Brody he can stay until he finds a new place but that he has to sleep on the couch.”

“We’re really doing this, huh?” Quinn smiled brightly, sliding her hands all over Rachel’s body.

“We are. And it’s going to be great.” Rachel grinned back.

“This feels like a dream. I can’t believe it.” Quinn took her hand.

“How about now? Do you believe this?” Rachel pinched Quinn’s side.

“Hey!” Quinn giggled as Rachel’s hand teased her side.

“Look, Quinn, I can’t promise this is going to last.” Rachel collapsed on top of Quinn with a happy sigh. “But I want to give it a real shot.”

“I don’t need promises. I just need you.” Quinn captured one of Rachel’s hands and laced their fingers together.

“You have me. I think we’ll be really good together.” Rachel squeezed Quinn’s hand.

“Yeah, we will.” Quinn kissed Rachel and they got lost in each other for a long, long time.


End file.
